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No bread is an island

...entire of itself. (With apologies to John Donne!)

I live and breathe breadmaking. I’m an evangelist who would like everyone to make his or her own bread. I want to demystify breadmaking and show it as the easy everyday craft that it is. To this end I endeavour to make my recipes as simple and as foolproof as I possibly can.

I call my blog 'No bread is an island' because every bread is connected to another bread. So a spicy fruit bun with a cross on top is a hot cross bun. This fruit dough will also make a fruit loaf - or Chelsea buns or a Swedish tea ring...

I'm also a vegan, so I have lots of vegan recipes on here - and I'm adding more all the time.

About Me

Torn away from the bosom of my family at the tender age of 18 - and never lived in my home town of Blackburn again. The RAF took me to HK; After a hitch of four years I emigrated to Australia and joined the RAAF, which took me to HK where I met my wife of 43 years. I then joined GCHQ which took me (us, with 2 children now) back to HK. Retired at 55, trained as a teacher of adults, gained a 2:1 in Teaching and Training at Plymouth Uni (which I thought went well with the 2 'O' levels with which I left school). And I've been teaching breadmaking ever since. Now running 6 or 7 classes a week, plus the odd Saturday workshop. My passion is breadmaking - or perhaps I should say the teaching of breadmaking; I'm also very interested in early development; And I like to cook - but I consider myself to be pretty average. I have a wife, two children, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law and three grandchildren, (who can all make bread) who come and stay with us in the holidays and half-terms. Away from my family, I'm happiest teaching a Family Learning group, with parents and children, none of whom have made bread before. I get a real buzz out of turning people onto breadmaking.

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Thursday, 21 August 2014

CHOCOLATE AND BANANA BREAD (vegan)

Made these with my group of special needs students (note the curried green snake loaf!). There are a variety of fillings - chocolate and tinned peaches, jam and peach and jam and banana.

200g (or 1 mug) strong white flour

1 or 2 dessertspoons sugar

125ml (or 1/3rd mug) lukewarm water

1 rounded teaspoon fresh yeast

Splash of olive oil (optional)

Plus:Homemade chocolate spread1 (or more!)sliced bananaTopping:Brush with a glaze made with 1 teaspoon sugar and 2 teaspoons boiling water. Method:1. Place the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Pour in the yeast liquid and add the olive oil if using.2. Have a little extra water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife. When it gets too stiff for the palette knife, use one hand to turn the bowl round, whilst the other hand begins to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure the dough remains soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water. When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!4. Now divide the dough into two pieces. Shape them into rounds and roll them out to around 15-18cms, with one (which will be the top) just slightly bigger than the other. 5. Place the smaller round onto your prepared baking sheet and spread chocolate all over, then place the slices of banana on top. Place the second piece of dough over the first and tuck the edges well underneath so that the loaf presents an even finish. 6. Leave to prove until the loaf has appreciably increased in size and bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for between 15-20 minutes. When the loaf is done it should be a good colour underneath. Place on a cooling rack when it comes out of the oven and brush with the sugar glaze.Some pics:

One and a half bananas piled on top of the chocolate spread

Brushed with a sugar glaze

Sliced in two, showing that lovely, gooey filling!

For the price of one and a half bananas, some chocolate spread, a little flour, sugar and yeast, you can get a lovely after-dinner treat that will feed four, easily!Variation:Of course, you don't have to make a calzone, you can simply make a sweet pizza: